Perfection
by Aerilon452
Summary: Marcus. a member of the Volturi, is out in the night and then a scent catches his attention. he follows it until he finds her. Xover between Dark Angel and Twilight
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Marcus is out in the night and he catches a scent leading him to a woman not entirely human. Xover fic for Twilight and Dark Angel

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the characters… not a thing….

Rating: Teen

**FINDING PERFECTION:**

The night was warm in Volterra with the wind dancing on the air and whispering through the deserted streets. One man who dared the night did so with the knowledge that he would never be harmed. Marcus. He knew nothing could touch him, nothing could sway him. Then on the air a scent he had never encountered before wrapped around him. He turned in a circle trying to breathe it all in. It was alluring, summer rain and winter snow, all mixed together with just a hint of the untamable. Street after street Marcus followed the scent until he caught a glimpse of the human it belonged to. She moved like a panther, but was as lean as a pixie with an Elfish height. The young woman ducked around a corner and he lost sight of her. The scent of her pulled him from the shadows, around the corner, only to block a punch being thrown his way. "That was uncalled for." His tone lacked the usual bite to it and his eyes lost some of his usual cruelty.

"You were following me what did you expect?" She snarled.

He was drawn in my her ice blue eyes that seemed at odds with the golden tan of her skin, the dark brown/black of her hair. Marcus had never seen someone like her. "I caught a glimpse of you and I wanted to see more." He said.

"Then get an eyeful," she snarled. "It will be the last time you see me." Wrenching her arm free she hurried through the thick blackness.

Marcus went after her, but she disappeared. The girl had vanished into thin air. It actually made him smile. Closing his eyes e listened, tried to pick up the sound of her heartbeat. Marcus nearly gave up until he heard footsteps above him. She was running on a roof. How could human jump that far? Looking around the ally for any sign of life Marcus debated going after her. The sun would be long to rise; he had hours yet before him. Without further delay, using his vampiric strength and speed, he set off after her.

Leo moved along the rooftops trying to run off all the extra energy she had. It was that time; she was in heat. Damn her feline genetics. Sometimes she hated her transgenic nature with a fiery passion and then other times she couldn't imagine another life. It was always during this three day span that she made some of the worst choices in men all in service to scratch her itch that was hardwired into her DNA due to the large amount of feline genetics to she held inside of her.

Then as she was running she had felt, known that someone was stalking her. That feeling immediately made her think of Lydecker, think that she was found. It made her run harder looking for an easy escape. Then she had gotten it in her head to physically harm who ever it was. She was of a dual nature tonight; fear quickly turned to blinding rage. And then he had caught her wrist. His hand was as cold as the snow with eyes as crimson as blood. He drew her in, had the feline inside of her purring. She knew for certain that his cold skin could cool down the raging lust inside of her.

Leo instantly stopped that train of thought. It would turn into a wreck that was for certain. This man, whatever he was, couldn't help her. Yet, why did her fingers itch to feel his skin/ why did her lips hurt to kiss him? He was a complete stranger. "Complete stranger are all I hook up with." She confessed to the night. Pausing Leo waited and listened. Then she reminded herself that there were no hoverdrones inEurope. They wouldn't capture her image and transmit it to the police database and thus Lydecker wouldn't find her. Momentarily she breathed a sigh of relief.

"It seems I've found you again."

Leo whirled around and there he was. His crimson eyes caught the moon light sending a wave of renewed lust through her. In the blink of an eye he was standing in front of her. Leo swore she could feel the coldness radiating off him. It did nothing to cool her, for that she would have to have his touch. A pure rumbled in her throat. Leo was tired of fighting her hunger. And he did follow her up here. He certainly was pleasing no the eyes, long brown hair, pale skin, gorgeous lips. It made her lick her own. "So you did."

"Are you going to run again?" Marcus tried to tower over her, "Because I do love the chase."

If she was going to make a bad choice in her partner for tonight, she couldn't do much worse than the man in front of her. At least he was gorgeous and tall. Leo hoped that he was, well made. "No running." Taking what she wanted Leo fisted her hands in the front of his shirt and hauled him close taking his lips. She tasted the hint of blood and it excited her even more.

Marcus was shocked, stunned, but she tasted so good. His hands went to her waist, fingers digging into her skin bringing her hips in against him. "I can…" He drew in breath, "Take you anywhere."

"How about my bed?" she growled pushing him off. He only smiled at her.

"I'm…"

"No names." Leo stood on the ledge looking back at him. She jumped down to the street below. He was there with her.

**ABANDON****BUILDING****:**

Leo dragged him through the door pushing him up against one of the steel beams kissing him with the fierce hunger she was feeling. He grabbed her, hauling her up into his arms fighting her back. She threaded her fingers through his long locks as he turned pinning her to the beam in return a little harder; but the rougher the better. She liked it rough. Her heart beat quickened, her breathing grew ragged. Her body burned to have her base need stated. All Leo could hope for was a quick tumble, him to pass out, and for her to slip out unnoticed.

Marcus heard her rumbling growl, felt it against his chest. She was burning hotter than a pyre. He wondered if she would actually bring some warmth back to his skin. There was only one way to find out. Moving away from the beam he saw a mattress covered in pillows and blankets over near a corner. Moving to it, Marcus took her down. Her hands were all over him, clawing at the buttons of his shirt just as his fingers pushed up the edge of her skirt. Never had he been so hungry and it wasn't for the taste of blood. It was for the warmth of a woman. This woman below him was fire, she was raging lust, and it made his thirst die away in the face of the rising desire. For tonight, Marcus just felt, he didn't listen to this thirst. He let his body take over.

Leo rolled them so she was on top with her center resting right over his impressive bulge. There was the hope that he knew how to use it. "I think I could have some fun with you." She grinned a wicked grin placing the palms of her hands on his shoulders. His hands came up to her bare thighs, nails racking over her skin. Leo shivered and hungered even more. He ripped the delicate lace of her underwear and the games began. The coldness of his skin met the heat of her body and she was lost to the gnawing hunger.

**TWO HOURS LATER:**

Leo listened to he man she had just bedded running the shower. She felt wretched for giving into her base nature. Now Leo was going to have to call Zack to let him know she was moving on fromItaly. "Damnit," She mouthed slowing rolling out of bed. Her underwear was in tatters. Stuffing them in her back pocked Leo slowly eased open the window and slipped out, disappearing out into the night. She left her motorcycle behind as to make a silent get away. That alone pained her. Leo loved her bike more than anything.

Street by street she faded into the shadows getting as far from her crash pad as she could. Tomorrow would be soon enough to come back for the rest of her stuff; her clothes and her guns. Right now she had to call Zack. He was the unit commander. Ducking into a dark doorway Leo pulled out the burner phone to dial Zack's number. The ringing went on and one until the voicemail hit. "Zack, gods, I wish you were answering the phone. I did something stupid; major league stupid. There was a guy…" Her hand went to her shoulder where he had bitten her. There she felt a minor irritation, but nothing else.

Her perfect DNA would keep her from getting any disease known to man. She couldn't be affected by radiation. "I slept with him Zack and now… I think it would be safer to leave." Leo banged her head on the door jam. "I really wish you answered. Call me back. I need to know what to do. Until then I'm going under ground." Hitting the end button on her phone Leo put it in her left back pocket before setting off once again into the waning night.

Marcus walked back into the room expecting to find the girl passed out on the mattress. Instead she was gone and a window was open. He licked his lips tasting the small trace of her blood he had taken. It had been instinct. Now, there could be a new born vampire out on the streets of Volterra and he had created her. Running his hands through his wet mass of hair, "Aro's going to kill me."

Going over to the bed he found the blanket she had come on and gathered it up. The scent of lust, of summer rain, of winter snow, still clung to the fabric. Folding it up Marcus tucked it over his arm and headed out the door and back to his home that he shared with his brothers. At least he would have something to occupy his mind today while Aro and Caius listened to the day's grievances. As he walked through the streets the night was quickly fading. As using his speed he made it back to his home carrying the scent of the woman with him.

**ONE WEEK LATER:**

Leo was lying on one of the many rooftops soaking up some sun to help keep her tan. Though, the golden skin needed no help from the sun. She was made this way from scientists. Idly her hand went to the bite mark on her shoulder wondering what happened to the mysterious pale guy she had slept with about a month ago. He had been so vigorous forcing her to keep pace. That hadn't happened to her before. Most of the men she bedded tended to be passed out before round two even began. But she has been the one that night to try and keep pace. It had bee a nice change. That night she had been well and truly sated.

In her front pants pocket the burn phone she had buzzed pulling Leo out of her thoughts. Leo pulled the hone out answering with, "Yeah."

"It's Zack."

Leo sat up straighter. She had been waiting and waiting for her brother, her unit commander to call, for days. But she hadn't stressed too bad as she knew Zack had her other family to look after. "Sorry, thanks for calling me back."

"What happened with this guy? Do you need me to come and take care of him?" Zack offered.

Leo smiled at that actually. Zack was never afraid to shed blood if one of his brothers or sisters were in danger. "No, I was just wondering, do you want me to relocate. I have some money but…"

"For now, stay put," Zack sighed. "I'm inSeattledealing with Max, Crit, and Syl."

Leo perked up at that. "Max?"

"No Leo…." Zack warned.

"But Zack…" Leo wanted to come home. Max was her sister, the one who watched her back when she had been in trouble. The night of the escape she had been separated from her and it still pained Leo to this day.

"Not yet. When everything is over I'll call you and let you talk to her then." Zack bargained.

"So, what should I do?" Leo asked again. Maybe, if Zack told her to stay she could go and find that guy, if that was even a good idea.

"Stay put for now," Zack sighed, "I'll send someone to you. Zane is fleeing the country. I'll call him and divert him to you."

"I'm in a town called Volterra." Leo informed. It would be good to have one of her brothers with her. "Thanks Zack."

"Stay safe baby sister." The line went dead.

Marcus sat draped in his chair in the audience hall listening to a young vampire beg for his life. The pathetic weakling was accused of some crime, but in truth Marcus had stopped listening. All he thought of was the girl, was her scent. It was driving him crazy not knowing who she was or where he could find her. Night after night he had been going on walks through the city trying to find her scent again. Nothing. Marcus still had the blanket he had taken from her; the scent was fading from it though.

"Marcus? Are we boring you?" Aro asked.

"To tears," Marcus said drawing out of the chair, "Pass judgment and be done with it."

"That is not who we are." Caius said casting a cold glare to his brother Marcus.

"Do you tell me this because you think I do not know?" Marcus rounded on his brother. "Take care how you speak to me." He warned. Looking to Aro, Marcus said, "You have my vote for whatever you decide. I'm through with this for the day." Slipping the immaculate fur lined coat from his shoulder, he draped it over his chair, and left.

Walking through the halls he looked at portrait after portrait; the subjects always the same. Marcus and his brothers. It was times like these that he wished he could sleep, could dream. At least if he dreamed then he would once again see her.

Entering his room he took to the chair directly in front of the open balcony. The double doors were open, the black heavy curtains billowing in the breeze; he sat down bringing the blanket into his lap once again bringing her scent around him. Where was she? What was she doing? Was she still in Volterra? He had no name to call her by.

Marcus sighed deeply knocking the back of his head against the high back of his opulent chair. How could he find her? Her scent was no where in town. Night after night he retraced his steps from the first time he saw her. Marcus had even gone to the building where they had had sex only to find her belongings gone, the motorcycle missing as well. All that remained was the mattress. It was as if she never was in the city at all. Her scent alone told him she had been real, not a wraith created by his mind.

The sun was setting and still Marcus sat watching the city below him. His fingers idly rubbed the edge of the blanket corner letting his mind spin and spin. How had he gotten his way? She did this. Marcus should be angry about this change in him, but he wasn't. He was no longer bored. He had a new thrill; the thrill of the hunt for her. Then, much as it had that night, her scent was carried to him.

With grace and speed Marcus rose from his chair going out to the balcony just as the sun sank beneath the horizon. Drawing in enough of the light summer air he centered all of his attention on her scent; the scent of summer rain and winter snow. Vaulting over the edge Marcus ran in the direction of the scent, ran through the night, through the streets looking for her.

Leo sat up watching the sun go down. She would have to leave soon if she was to get to her job at the bar. The owner had hired her off the street because she had been wearing a short skirt, a black halter top with flames on it, knee high boots, and her dark hair pulled back in a braid. She should be grateful. Leo had a job where she made money and tips. If she saved enough then she could move on and move out of Volterra. Did she really want to leave? Leo didn't know. But she knew she had to get to work. Going to the ledge she dropped down to the street below and walked off casually like she hadn't just dropped the three stories down from the roof.

She walked trough crowds of normal people wondering how they got from day to day as fragile as they were. Leo wasn't immortal, but she was stronger, faster, and healthier than most people. Except for the seizures. Those were the only flaw in her. That reminded her to find more tryptophan. She would have to steal it from somewhere. Her bottle was already low with a week left.

Slipping from shadow to shadow Leo watched for him, the man she bedded a week ago in a rush to sate her raging heat. Another draw back of her immense feline DNA. She had a human mind, but feline reactions, feline senses. If she had to remain here Leo would have to find someone else to scratch her itch. He had done an amazing job of nailing her six ways from Sunday and she found she had missed out on more play leaving him. Leo had been listening to her instincts. They had told her to run and run she did.

Not paying attention Leo ran smack dab into someone; cold touched her. "Oh no…" It wasn't her cold lover that had her worried, ready to rabbit all of a sudden. It was the two men in black BDU's that grabbed her attention. They looked like they belonged to Lydecker.

Marcus spotted her, knew she was not focused, and so he waited. To his eyes she seemed no different than the first night he had come across her. At least her scent was unchanged and as intoxicating just like that night. Marcus would be very interested in knowing how she seemed unharmed by the venom from the bite he had given her. He knew he had bitten her; the taste of her blood still lingered on his tongue. As he knew, she ran into him. The look that washed over her made him lips curve into a small smile. "Well, hello again." She didn't look at home, she was looking past him. It made him turn. Two men in uniform were staring at her.

"Oh no, no no no…." Leo looked from him, back to the men, and then back to the man in front of her. It couldn't be helped it seems, "I need your help." She was too proud, or so she should have been. It should have been enough to keep her from asking him for anything.

"What do you require?" Marcus asked hearing the frantic beat of her heart.

"Somewhere safe." Leo gave in. she had to if she was going to shake those soldiers off of her. This was dangerous and Leo should have known that Lydecker would have men in other parts of the world just incase "his kids" escaped the net. And they did escape. As far as she knew she was one of a few of them to leave the country. Jase was in Mexico, Jondy was in Canada, and she was in Italy.

"Then follow me," Marcus held out his hand to her. She placed her delicate hand in his allowing him to lead her down the side street that would take them up to the top of Volterra. It was as safe as they could get. No human dared to venture to the top.

At the home of the Volturi Aro watched in a rapt attention as Marcus walked in with a very beautiful woman by his side. It made him curious. Motioning Jane over Aro muttered, "Find out who our pretty guest is." He knew Jane would do what he asked. He also knew she understood his meaning. Jane would not ask the young woman right out; she would retrace the scent to where the woman lived and go through her belongings.

Marcus tried not to grind his teeth at hearing Aro's request of Jane. He tried to put it out of his mind. "Will you tell me your name now?"

She stopped, "Yeah, it's…. Leo."

"Leo?" Marcus repeated.

"Yes, do you have a problem with my name?" She placed her hands on her slender hips and arched one shapely eye brow at him. One night they had snuck out of the barracks to go to the high place with offerings for the Blue Lady and one of the trainers had a TV going. Something was on, se couldn't remember, but Zack had named her Leo that night. That had been her name, and it would always be her name.

Marcus knew to tread very carefully in what he would say next, "No, I just have never met a woman with such a name." Extending his hand to her Marcus said, "I am Marcus."

"Marcus?" Leo teased. She was feeling at ease with him and it was strange to her.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Marcus is out in the night and he catches a scent leading him to a woman not entirely human. Xover fic for Twilight and Dark Angel

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the characters… not a thing….

Rating: Teen

**FINDING PERFECTION:**

Leo looked around shock and awe racing through her. There would be no chance in hell Lydeckers men would get to her here and they had followed her from the ally way. She knew it. She could still feel them watching her. Leo was a hot commodity. Her DNA alone was worth over a million dollars. Sensing even more eyes on her Leo looked at the other dark haired man with the eerie red eyes that matched the crimson ones that rested in Marcus's beautiful face. He had to be a brother. The little blonde girl was back and carrying her bag. "Seriously…"

"What?" Marcus asked catching Aro's eye and that of Jane's. His brother motioned them over. For a second he dreaded it. Beside him Leo scratched at her right shoulder where the bite mark rested. Why hadn't she turned? "Come, we must meet Aro." He muttered putting his hand on her lower back. She instantly stiffened.

Aro stood waiting for his brother and the human to join them. Graciously he took the bag from Jane, bidding her to leave and attend to her nightly duties. He gazed upon the young woman standing beside Marcus. She was lean, tall, well muscled, beautiful, but her eyes were searching for exits. "I see we have a new guest with us for this evening. Brother you should have mentioned it sooner." Aro chided playfully offering his hand to the girl. She looked at his hand and then put both of her in the back of her pants pockets.

"It was last minute," Marcus answered putting his hand on Leo's shoulder. He urged her gently to take Aro's hand. It was better than outright refusing.

Leo sighed and reluctantly put her hand in Aro's. He pulled her close to kiss her knuckles. His hands were as cold as the driven know, just like Marcus. "Nothings happening," Leo pointed out looking over her shoulder at Marcus. At the edge of her mind she could feel something, a force trying to push against her, but nothing happened. "I think you should let go now."

Aro had only felt this once before when he had met Bella, she was a complete blank slate to him, just as this girl was in front of him. "What are you?" He asked staring into her ice blue eyes that held a certain feline quality in their intensity. She smelled divine, almost of summer and winter mixing together. The girl seemed almost too perfect.

"I'm Leo." She pulled her hand back not liking where this was going any more. Her feline senses told her to run, to get out of this place and out of the country. Why was she staying? She had no ties here. Her family was in the US, Mexico, and Canada. She, alone, was in Europe.

"An interesting name for an interesting woman," Aro continued to look her over while watching the stance Marcus had taken. His brother fisted his hands at his side the entire time Aro was assessing the human. It was interesting to him. "What brings you to Volterra?"

"The weather," Leo answered shrugging her shoulders.

"How fortunate we are to have such a beauty in this house," Aro inclined his head.

"Really? I'm surprised you even noticed. You're pretty easy on the eyes too." Leo smirked. Egging on a man like him was not the smartest thing in the world. She knew this, but it didn't stop her. Leo, X-5 227, never knew when to back down. Maybe that was why she got so many beatings at Manticore?

"You have a colorful way of speaking." Aro pointed out.

"Comes from living on the streets, working in bars, and working on cars," Leo answered cocking her hips and crossing her arms over her chest. She turned turn to Marcus, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have come here." Leo reached for her bag and whispered to the other man, "The little blond better not have touched anything other than my bag." She hadn't even past Marcus when his arm shot out to catch her around the waist.

"What about those soldiers?" He whispered harshly in her ear.

"People only follow me once," Leo growled backing out of his arms. "I can handle it."

"I doubt that." Marcus moved faster than he should to catch her, but she moved faster and jumped up to the ledge just above them.

"I told you…" Leo hefted her pack on her shoulders and jumped up to the open spaces of the dome.

"Leo!"

Aro laughed. "Excellent." Motioning with his head, he signaled to Jane to get the girl down.

Leo looked at the blonde who was now just staring at her. Again the feeling of some force pushing against rocked her brain. The feeling was unpleasant. She knew how to push pain away and focus in her goal. Leo hated being stared at. Standing on the ledge she jumped down gracefully, right in front of the petite blonde, "You wanna keep staring at me goldie locks?" The blond on cocked her head to the side.

"Extraordinary." Aro was pleased. "The only other creature to be immune to you my dear Jane is the lovely Bella Cullen." He put his hands together. "This is good."

Leo rounded on Aro, "I am no creature." Marcus stepped between her and Aro putting his hands on her shoulders. The cold seeped in, calming her.

"Stop this, Aro." Marcus demanded without looking at his brother. Idly he rubbed his thumbs up and down Leo's shoulders trying to calm her.

"As you wish Marcus," Aro relented. To Leo he said, "Please, feel free to stay here. You are a guest and will be treated as such." He bowed in accordance with the old customs he still held so dear.

Leo felt her eye brows arch at his offer, "What's the catch?" She asked not knowing any better. Looking at Marcus she could see the warning in his eyes for her not to say anything else.

"No, catch. You are with my brother and as such are immediately extended this offer." Aro explained.

"Lucky me," Leo muttered pulling at the straps of her bag. Marcus motioned her to follow him and she did so. She would go anywhere just to get Aro to stop staring at her.

Leo sat on the edge of the giant grey glad bed in the center of the room that belonged to Marcus. He sat across from her just watching her, studying her. It was making her nervous, making her want to run, to escape. She didn't like being stared at. On more than one occasion she had picked a fight with the drill sergeants for staring at her, and she had been a revved up nine year old at the time. One time she sent a drill instructor to the OR for shattering his sternum and breaking more than a few lungs. For that, Lydecker had chained her deep in the basements of Manticore where the nomlies were contained. Three days and night she had been down there. Her hate and rage for the man growing in intensity with each passing hour.

Marcus watched her seeing the lines of unease on her face. It was because he studied her so. She had said she hated to be stared at. Turning his eyes away from her, Marcus rose from the chair and once again stood at the open balcony doors looking out on Volterra. More and more he would be standing here rather than indulging Aro in hearing the transgressions of vampires who had broken the ancient laws. It had all become tedious to him and even more so since his night with Leo. That night was burned into his memory, on his skin. She had been a raging fire that night, her skin so hot it actually made him feel something. "You'll have to forgive my brother, he knows not when to back down." Marcus said as if it would excuse anything.

Leo slid off the edge of the bed, "It's not him I worry about." Her nails scratched over the bite wound, "It's that blonde that was with him. She stared at me like she could make my brain explode or something." The bite mark burned a little. It was starting to worry her. She had survived bullet wounds, live autopsies, beatings, broken limb, near drowning, and now this bite. It was starting to worry her with the marginal amount of pain she was feeling. Marcus looked at her then looked at her shoulder. His cold fingers pulled aside the fabric of her shirt bearing the red angry mark to the light of his room.

"Does this bother you?" Marcus inquired tracing the tip of his finger of it. The skin felt like fire.

"No," Leo answered automatically. She was taught to push away pain. Pain was weakness and it would get her killed. Over and over Lydecker drilled into them that whatever the mind could conceive the body could achieve. If she didn't want to feel pain, then she wouldn't feel pain.

"Leo, I should tell you that my bite…"

"Are you infected with something, because I can survive nuclear fall out." Leo interrupted. She was built to be tough, built to survive, and built to kill.

Marcus was about ready to tell her what he was when her words stopped him. "How could you survive radiation?"

Leo could kick herself and Zack would kill her. "I'm…" she stepped away scratching at the bite wound again. "I…" The words were choking her until she moved aside her hair and showed him the mark on the back of her neck; her barcode. She felt his ice cold finger tips trace the lines lightly.

"You have a tattoo," Marcus wasn't sure what he was supposed to be seeing. All he saw were lines on the back of her neck.

"It's a designer label. It's me. " Leo turned to him, "I'm X-5 227, escapee from Manticore in 2009."

"I don't know what that means." Marcus confessed.

"You, I'm sure were born with parents. I wasn't. I was created and then carried to term by a woman who only needed the money. I was raised to be a killer, a soldier compliant and cold." Leo walked to the balcony and looked out at the stars, out at all the roof tops debating what else she should tell him. Zack was already going to kill her. Why not complete the disobedience of orders. "By the age of four I could field strip a sniper rifle and take out men three times my size. By the age of eight I already had blood on my hands from man we had to hunt down and kill for training. I'm bio-engineered to be the perfect hunter. I have so much feline DNA it would blow your mind."

Marcus could believe that last statement. Her eyes were ice blue. The only creature on this earth he had ever seen with eyes like that were white tigers. "Who created you?" If creatures such as vampires existed then he could believe that humans had learned enough to create someone such as her.

"Scientist's with a God complex." Leo answered. "They worked for Manticore where I was kept and trained. It was in the mountains of Gillette Wyoming." Once she started talking about it Leo found that she couldn't stop. Her instincts were telling her that Marcus wouldn't let anything happen to her. She didn't know how she knew that, but she did. "They engineered our DNA to survive anything. I'm basically a revved up female with trust issues." Attitude rolled off Leo in waves.

"Then why do you trust me?" Marcus asked.

Leo smirked, "Cause you screwed me six ways from Sunday sating my immense carnal hunger." She laughed at the appalled look on his face. "Oh, yeah, and I tend say what I think too."

"Refreshing honesty, I get so little of that." He remarked.

"You'll get so much of it from me, it'll make you sick." Leo laughed then she sobered. "You were going to tell me something before I so rudely interrupted."

"That place you came from, did they have any oddities of nature before you?"

"Yeah, the nomlies. At least that's what Ben called them. They were previous experiments that went terribly wrong before the X-5 series. Some of them were rabid animals more than human." Leo answered. "Why?"

"Do you believe that there could be other creatures out in the world?" Marcus was avoiding the subject of vampires for as long as he could.

"Sure, I mean I exist." She half laughed, half sighed wanting him to get to the point.

"Would you believe that vampires exist and that I was one of them?" He waited with bated breath for her answer. If his heart was beating it would be thundering in his chest

"If you were a vampire I would say… Damn, you're hot. And yes, I believe they exist." Leo slowly reached up to cup his face; his cold skin a soothing balm to the heat of hers. She always ran so hot, hotter than the rest of her family. That first night finally made sense to her. It finally clicked as to why he cooled the raging fire inside of her. He had felt so good with every kiss, every thrust. "You really are a vampire?"

"Yes," Marcus leaned his cheek into her touch, the warmth coming through his hard diamond skin. Before this moment he would never understand a vampires need to feel for a human, until he had scented Leo for the first time. "What do they call you, the people who made you?"

"I'm a transgenic bad ass with a short temper and a mean right hook." Leo answered. "Transgenic for short," Her stomach took the worst opportune moment to growl with hunger. She realized that she hadn't eaten all day. Marcus laughed touching his forehead to hers. It made Leo smile, "Well, are you going to feed me?"

Marcus chuckled, "I'm sure we have something around here." Stepping back from her, he motioned to the door.

Down a few levels Leo walked into an opulent stainless steel kitchen with her jaw dropping open. "Wow, vampires who have a kitchen. Never would have pictured it." She joked. Marcus only shook his head. She hopped up on counter and waited.

Marcus stepped between her parted legs as she sat on the counter. It put her lips at the perfect level for him to kiss her. He resisted, "What do you feel like eating?" There had to be something for her. They had humans around all the time.

"Besides you…. Hmmm…. I would say a sandwich." She draped her arms over his shoulders, "Please."

"Alright." He tried to back away from her, but her strong grasp kept him where he was. Marcus had missed her locking her legs around his waist. How had he missed that? It made him smile and place his hands on her hips.

"Marcus."

Marcus looked over his shoulder to one of the humans they kept around; Evan. "What is it?"

"Aro requests your presence. Heidi is here with food." Evan said looking at the girl on the counter. "I can tell him you found…"

"No, tell him I'll be right up." Marcus interrupted. For the last week he had barely dinned and now the hunger was getting to him. "Evan, would you be as kind as to find her something to eat?" Marcus bowed his head backing away from Leo. "I'll be back…."

"Are you going to eat someone?" Leo asked swinging her legs back and forth. None of this weirded her out. She was sitting close to a vampire and she was a transgenic. Zack wasn't going to believe this and he might end up killing her or taking her away from here. Leo didn't want to go.

"Yes," Marcus answered.

"Oh," Leo leaned her head to the side. "Everyone has to eat I guess."

Marcus brushed his knuckles down the side of her face. "Stay here with Evan, don't come out." It was a firm request.

"You may not know this yet, so I'm gonna go a head and tell you; I don't take orders." Leo arched her eye brow, "But, since I am starving, I will stay here."


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Marcus is out in the night and he catches a scent leading him to a woman not entirely human. Xover fic for Twilight and Dark Angel

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the characters… not a thing….

Rating: Teen

**FINDING PERFECTION:**

Leo sat on the counter munching on the sandwich Evan made her when she heard a scream. In a flash her plate was set aside, she was in a crouch on the floor searching for the sound again. Across the kitchen Evan just leaned against the wall unfazed by what he had heard. She should have been used to it; Manticore had been worse with screams all day. Standing up Leo cracked her neck looking at the ceiling. There was a way she could get past Evan and make her way up to the main hall. She wanted to see a vampire feeding. It was her innate curiosity and it would get her in trouble.

"You don't want to go out there." Evan warned.

"Actually I think I do," Leo leaned her head to the side. She moved to the door and Evan made the mistake all human men make; he grabbed her arm. A deadly smile curved her lips and a growl rumbled in her chest. With the speed and strength she was created with, Leo clutched his wrist, twisted, and shoved him away before running out the door.

Up the flight of stairs Leo stopped and listened. The silence was coming fast, but not fast enough for her to miss out on what was happening. Racing up the rest of the stairs she slid into the shadows to peer around the corner for guards. So far nothing. Up, about twenty feet was a wide ledge where she could creep along the wall out of sight. Leaping up there Leo moved again, careful of where she placed her feet, moving as lightly as air. Around another corner her eyes saw a fresh kill. The body was that of a middle aged man; he was dead.

Letting her vision change Leo searched the crowd for Marcus, and she found him feeding from a pretty blonde no older than her. She was entranced with the way his hair was tied back, the way his face relaxed, the way he had his arms wrapped around the woman's slender frame as he drank deeply draining her blood. This was art. This was beauty. What she was seeing was nothing resembling the horror of what she lived through at Manticore. Leo couldn't turn away, couldn't stop watching Marcus as he fed. She could see the muscles of his throat work as he swallowed. He made sure to drink deep with each beat of the girls fading heartbeat. Until this moment she hadn't truly believed that he was a vampire. Then, as she watched him from the small crevice she had squeezed into, he looked at her. Leo nearly jumped back. Marcus had seen her. But how? She was still; she had slowed her heart beat. He was wedged into a tight space that no one should be able to get into. And she was concealed. With all of her training Leo backed away and slipped down to the kitchen. There would be an argument after he was full.

Marcus kept his gaze locked on the culvert he knew Leo was hiding in. He should have known better. She was the very soul of curiosity. It was in her nature. It was bred into her by whatever scientist had created her. In his arms, the heart beat its last beat. Marcus drained what blood remained as he gently let the body rest on the marble floor. There was no life left in the corpse and he stopped feeling bad about the lives he took long ago. What mattered to him was what Leo thought. She had seen him like this. The blood still stained his lips. Leaving the hall he went back to where he had left Leo knowing that the young woman would beat him there.

Every step he took, Marcus made sure that he kept his pace slow. He wanted her to have to get to the kitchen. A smile played at his blood painted lips at the thoughts of her rushing to the kitchen to take her place back on the counter with the plate of whatever food Evan had given her tying to act as if she had never left. It would be interesting for her to try and pull it off.

At the kitchen door Marcus pulled free the pin that had been securing his hair, keeping it out of the way while he fed, so he could let the locks tumble free around his face. Pushing open the door Leo was right where he thought she would be. She was sitting nonchalantly on the counter eating a sandwich while Evan lay passed out on the floor. Marcus could smell the blood on him. A laugh bubbled up inside of him. "Don't you know not to bloody the help?" He teased.

"Nope, I missed that final lesson in charm school." Leo set aside her plate getting off the counter to go to him. With her sensed she could still smell the blood on him, even see traces of it painting his lips crimson. It should repulse her, should scare her away, But it didn't; it was just what made Marcus who he was.

"Oh, well in that case, let me refresh your memory." Marcus came to her, gripped her hips to pick her up and set her back on the stainless steel counter top. His hands left her hips, resting palm down on either side of her thighs. "I asked you to remain here and not to leave." Leo looked away from him. "I asked this of you because I didn't want you to see me like that."

Locking her gaze with him Leo said, "If I'm going to stay here then I need to know what goes on. I'm not going to be hidden away or sheltered from anything." She reached up and cupped his face, "I'm not weak. I can take whatever comes my way." Leo had been a force to be reckoned with when she had been a kid. More than once Lydecker had had to take her to solitary lock up in an attempt to break through all of her wild Feline DNA. She had only been like that because Zane had been injured on the field; he was her blood brother, her twin. He was the only one to make her calm down. Zane had gone to the infirmary causing Leo to lose it. In a rage she had broken two of the guards sending them to the infirmary right after her brother. It had taken the rest of the tac team to wrestle her to the ground and taser her.

Against his better judgment Marcus smiled, "In all my years I have never met a woman like you." Leo threaded her fingers into his hair pulling him for a kiss. Marcus wanted to resist. His lips would still taste of blood, of a humans life on his tongue. Still, Leo insisted, and Marcus relented leaning into her. His lips fit to hers, molded and danced together. He gasped, a wave of feeling washing through him. The taste of her made him forget everything. She was addicting. Marcus moved his hands back to her hips, tugging her close to the edge, fitting her lower body close to his. He wanted to feel the warmth of her skin against him. The last semblance of though he had, Marcus felt her lock her legs around his waist.

Leo felt all the pain and anger she had bottled up inside just float away when Marcus kissed her. The coldness of his skin did everything to cool the raging fire of anger and pain that had ruled her life for so long. She had to be the strong one, had to be a fighter. Zack had split her and Zane up when they escaped and she had to learn quickly to blend in with people. Now she had Marcus, he was calming her, calling to the woman and not the killer. His hands slid under the fabric of her black shirt making her bow her spin. He traced the bumps of her spine bringing a moan from her as his lips continued to devour her.

Marcus leaned back gripping the hem of her shirt to lift it over her head bearing her expanse of golden skin to his ravenous eyes. She mirrored him, taking his shirt in her hands Leo pulled it sharply apart. There before her eyes was his gleaming white skin that was as cold as ice. His cold skin didn't matter; she was hot enough for the both of them. Leo pulled him, took his cold lips infusing him with all the warmth she could. A growl escaped, but she didn't know if it was from him or from her.

Leo tangled her hand in his hair, everything else faded away. The cold immortal in her arms kept her attention. She brought her knees up against his waist, hooked her ankles together just keeping him close. Marcus pushed her down so her back touched the stainless steel. Leaning over her, he swirled his tongue around her navel and up the center of his abdomen. Gently his teeth latched on to the thin strip of cloth on her bra. He tugged playfully making Leo squirm. "You are terrible." She gasped.

Marcus placed his hands palm down on the table on either side of her hips and looked at her. "You have yet to see me terrible." He purred out each word sensually nuzzling the golden flesh before his eyes. Setting his lips back to her skin, he soaked up all the warmth he could. At that moment there was the fear the hunger would rise, would tempt him to take her blood. Instead, all Marcus wanted was to kiss her, to taste every inch of her skin.

Leo lay back stretching out the line of her torso, exposing more of herself for Marcus. She had a deep abiding trust for him. It was so strange when she trusted no one but her brother Zane. Yet, Marcus had her trust. The powerful Volturi leaned into her, darted his tongue out and licked a long line from her navel up to the hollow of her throat. A moan vibrated on the air around them.

"Brother if you are going to eat, do so…"

Marcus straightened immediately to glare at Aro. "Did you want something?" He pulled Leo close to him, putting his hand over the bite mark on her shoulder that he had given her. There was no need for Aro to know about it, not until he was sure Leo was going to turn.

Leo sat there looking at Aro wondering what was going to happen. She could tell that she wasn't exactly welcomed, but because of Marcus her presence would be tolerated. In her back pocket the burn phone she had buzzed at the wrong time. It had to be Zane, he was calling her. "Marcus…"

Marcus looked at her and then focused on the light buzzing he heard. "What is that?"

"My phone, my brother is calling." Leo explained.

"Ignore it." He stressed.

"I can't. It's protocol, it's my orders," Leo angled her head. "If I don't answer the phone, Zack will assume the worst and be here before you know it."

"Orders?" Aro inquired.

"I'm a soldier, born into a unit of soldiers who know nothing other than a life of service." Leo spouted the party line that she had heard so many times before at Manticore. "My brother is my Commander."

"Then by all means…"

Leo pulled the phone out, "What?"

"Hey baby sister, it's Zane."

Leo wanted to sigh in relief at hearing her big brothers voice, but she couldn't. "Good. Do you know my location?" Code phrases were everything to them. Zane listened to her tone more than he words.

"Are in trouble?"

"No, I'm sitting on the edge of stainless steel counter with a gorgeous god between my legs." Leo teased Marcus as she spoke to her brother.

"Meet me."

"I know where."

**IN TOWN:**

Marcus said he wouldn't let her out in the day without someone to watch over her. It had taken her all of twenty minutes to get into town and lose her escort Evan. Leo made it to the abandoned building where she had bedded Marcus, where she left her beloved bike. Pulling off the tarp she placed a pair of glasses on and sat astride the bike putting the key in the ignition. A few seconds later the powerful piece of machinery between her legs roared to life. Leo left tread marks on the worn wood of the building and sped through the broken down doors.

Leo took street after street at an impossible speed that required the greatest of reflexes that only she possessed with her transgenic alterations. She wove through the streets, then up a flight of stairs until she was jumping roof tops to make her way through town quicker. Leo had to get to the access road and out of Volterra to meet Zane. The road was within sight. Leo shifted gears and revved the engine building up a blinding speed.


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Marcus is out in the night and he catches a scent leading him to a woman not entirely human. Xover fic for Twilight and Dark Angel

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the characters… not a thing….

Rating: M for this chapter

Pairing: Marcus/Leo

**PERFECTION:**

Leo sat astride her powerful motorcycle parked under a tree waiting for the arrival of her brother Zane. As she had prepared to leave, Leo had sensed Marcus's strong desire to accompany her. But she knew this could not be. Zane wouldn't understand. Marcus could not bear witness to what she said to her brother. Leo was a soldier. She was on the run. She had chosen to expose herself to another being that had long lived in the shadows. Zane would call her crazy. He would berate her. He would see that she felt guilt over betraying her family. Zane wouldn't have to make Leo feel guilty, she was already there. She had made her choice and that was to see where her path with Marcus took her.

"You are lost in thought." Marcus had followed Leo out of a base need to ensure her safety. He had never once before in his long life felt such a need towards a human. Leo, on the other hand, was different than any singular being that walked the earth. She turned to him, her body radiating shock and anger and relief at seeing him. Marcus was shrouded in the shade of the tree so that his diamond like skin would not give him away. All he could do was to smile at her like he hadn't thought himself capable of in too many centuries gone by.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Leo snapped masking her great relief in seeing him watching her. If Zane showed up then there would be blood on the ground and she figured it would end up being hers as she would have to step between both men. "You have to leave. Right now," Leo pointed behind the huge tree where she knew Marcus had come from.

"I will not leave you here alone to face the wrath of your brother." Marcus guessed partially. He had two brothers and he knew the tumult of emotions that could rage when siblings were at odds with each other. Yes, he knew he shouldn't be here, but Leo was here and he needed to keep her safe, even from her family. "I will not leave your side." Marcus repeated.

"Why?" Leo asked swinging her leg over, removing herself from the comforting sat of her motorcycle. She knew what she was starting to feel for him. It was something Lydecker and the other trainers pounded into her that she could never feel. "Why would an ageless God chose to stand by my side? I'm a chimera; a genetic mistake." Leo said.

Marcus stepped closer to her, reached out his hand so he could place his cold palm to her warm flesh. "You are no such thing." He answered. "Before I met you, I was bored with this life. You happened upon my path and now I see differently. I feel for the first time in so long."

"I make you feel?" Leo asked, half astounded that a man would say anything like that to her. Marcus was tiers above of all other men. He showed her with his hands, his kisses, his eyes just how he felt about her in such a short amount of time. Marcus had even stood in front of his own brother to keep her from harm's way.

"Yes," Marcus answered pulling her closer so he could take her lips in a sweet kiss that promised passion later on. She melted against him giving Marcus a taste of the human flush of heat radiating out from her skin. Leo was a creature than ran hot, so hot he could taste her on his tongue. He was addicted to her warmth as his hands parted the leather of her vest to feel bare flesh beneath. His hands felt as if his skin were leeching some of the fire from her satin skin. Leo only moaned into his kiss that turned from a sincere sign of affection to blazing passion. Suddenly his hands were gripping the backs of her thighs hauling her against him.

Her desire ratcheted up three notches just from the cold press of Marcus's lips to hers. She would have thought that her heat would have cooled. It was well past that certain time of year for her feline side. But with Marcus she knew such blinding passion that she didn't know how her legs kept her walking while she was around him. She tangled her fingers in his long brown hair anchoring his mouth to hers as he feasted at her lips. Leo knew that she was hopelessly lost to this man. So much so that she nearly missed the sound of a classic muscle car's engine roaring up the road towards them. The sound of the powerful engine snapped her out of her passion induced haze, forcing her from Marcus's arms, and behind him so she could button the vest she worse as a shirt.

Zane saw his sister in the arms of a man. He slammed on the breaks making his Charger drift to a screeching halt as he abused his brakes. Climbing out of the car, Zane let his strong protective brotherly instincts override all of his other senses. Leo was his blood sister and she was his responsibility. Just seeing his sister in the arms of a man he had never met made his animal snarl. "Leo!" He roared, "Get in the car!" Zane sensed danger from the long haired man that made him even more on edge.

Leo stepped from behind Marcus with her vest buttoned once more and a defiant mask upon her face. She was not about to be ordered about by her brother even if Zane thought he was saving her from some imagined threat that Marcus could never pose to her. "Don't order me around, Zane!" Leo shouted crossing her arms over her chest and cocking her hip. "I'm not a child and I'm not a soldier." She stated. Zane kept coming with his anger rolling off him in waves. Leo could feel the boiling rage prickling along her bare arms.

Marcus chose that moment to go as still as a statue. He knew better than to step between warring siblings. If he had to, if he sensed that Leo was in grave danger, then he would intervene. For now it was better that he remain still and draw as little attention as he could. Marcus knew that Leo could hold her on. She was strong. She was capable. She was pure will power. Marcus found that he admired that about her. Leo gave him a glimpse of the life he had used to live; when he had felt rather than loathed his eternal existence.

Zane stared down his sister and then slid his gaze over to the man who stood by her side as still as stone. The man was over 6'0 tall, with long brown hair tumbling over his shoulders, pale skin, and crimson red eyes that seemed older than the face they resided in. then, using his heightened senses, Zane was able to detect the lingering scent of his sister clinging to the man. "Is this him?" He asked, his voice deadly as he pinned the man with a stare that promised pain.

Leo stood between Zane and Marcus just as Marcus had done for her with Aro. "Zane, stop," She warned with the slightest hint of a growl to her words. When all was said and done the X-5 series were still bred from animal genetics. "His name is Marcus and he saved me," Leo took a step closer to her brother to keep his eyes on her rather than on Marcus. "Some of Lydecker's men were in the city and he got me to safety at the risk of his own life." Leo fibbed a little. She wasn't about to betray the trust Marcus had placed with her and tell her brother the truth of what her lover really was.

Zane looked at Leo. "He did that?"

Leo nodded, "Yes, he did."

Marcus chose that moment to speak, "Your sister has been my most honored guest." Zane pinned him with another unfriendly stare. Marcus just shook it off. "I reside in the city of Volterra where Leo has been safe. Please, you are most welcome as well." Marcus knew how to be diplomatic, how to play the game of hospitality. It was worth it for Leo's sake. He knew she wanted her brother by her side. Marcus wanted Leo to be happy. Testing the waters, he placed his hands on her shoulders while he brother eyed her.

Zane rolled his eyes and looked back at Leo. "You just couldn't keep your pants zipped could you?" He joked.

Leo shrugged, "Guess not." She answered leaning back into Marcus's touch resisting the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. "You know me…" She teased Zane, "When I want it, I find the man who can give it to me."

"Thanks…" Zane groaned. "I didn't need to know that." And then he added. "Zack wanted me to come out here to make sure you're not dead. There are some errands I have to run and then we can meet up later." Zane could see that Leo was eager to leave and she was more than eager to get back to doing certain things that required a bed. He was not about to stand in the way of his baby sisters strong hungers. His own body was feeling that certain animal need that made him horny as hell. Turning from them, he waved at Leo over his shoulder as he strolled back to his car.

Marcus allowed his body to move once the younger man got back into his car. If he had been capable of sighing, of letting out air, he would have in a show of relief at not having to kill someone very dear to his remarkable Leo. "Should we return to Volterra?" He inquired gripping her shoulders a little tighter until he felt the bite mark against his palm. What was this bite doing to his lovely lioness? Marcus wished he knew.

Leo shrugged, "Sure, but if you're going to ride on my bike, you're wearing a helmet." She warned turning in his embrace to gaze into his strange eyes once more. They were hypnotic to her. No being had the right to look so sinfully delicious with eyes as red as blood. Marcus, however, was proving the exception to that. "Or we could stay here," She tugged at the silk scarf he had tucked under his impeccably white shirt. "And we could pick up right where we left off," Leo mused slowly pulling the bit of silk from around his neck.

For a moment Marcus was confused as to what she was hinting at but then the scent of her lust slammed into him boiling his blood and making him hunger for her all over again. Still, Marcus managed to ask, "You want me to take you…. Out here?" Never before had he thought to do such a thing with any woman. His answer was her fingers swiftly removing the buttons of his shirt to part the fabric. Marcus wasn't sure if they should be doing this here in the open when he had a very large bed back in Volterra that was perfect for their suddenly insatiable hunger for each other.

Leo shook her head slowly indicating that her answer was no. "I want you here." She purred abandoning his shirt to remove her vest. Her clothes were bothering her. The butter soft leather was so constraining to her skin all of a sudden. Leo dropped the vest to the ground, her upper body free to breathe and be admired by Marcus and his ravenous gaze. "You need to try new things. Sex outdoors is just one of those new things." Once more she went to work on his shirt with only three buttons remaining. With them free Leo pushed his shirt, his vest, and his jacket off of his beautiful body to let it fall to the ground to join her vest, and soon the rest of her clothes.

Marcus reached out to her, gripped her arms, and hauled her into his embrace. In the blink of an eye he had her up, pinned to the back of the ancient tree, and her legs around his waist. Marcus rotated his hips, grinding into her jean clad entrance. Leo could only moan loudly. He was just growing accustomed to having her against him hen Leo bucked sending him off balance and to the ground where she was atop him. Marcus slipped his hands up her tan stomach to cup her firm breasts. She bowed into his touch, the heat of her flesh chasing away the cold of his skin.

Leo placed her hands over his, holding them to her flushed mounds as he sat up. Her skin shivered at the feeling of his icy diamond flesh touching more of her fire hot skin. They were hot and cold. Her lust for him made her burn hotter so he too was warmed, if only for a while. Leo drew the tip of her tongue down the side of his neck, along the length of his well-defined collar bone drawing a shudder from him. She continued down until her lips touched the hard, straining, peak of his male nipple. A chuckle rumbled in her chest when she heard him whimper. She had reduced this perfect man to shudders, to moans, and whimpers. Being the wicked transgenic she was, Leo nipped him hard. Again, Marcus shuddered, but he did not stay languid.

Marcus turned the tables on her. He picked her up and shoved her into the trunk of the tree; hard. Leo cried out, not from pain but from pleasure. She didn't tell him to stop. Everything about her, from the blood rushing through her veins to the pounding of her heart, had Marcus hungering to taste her blood once more. Fueling his desire for her, he saw the healed bite he had given her. A ray of sun streaked through the trees, across her shoulder, casting the bite in a diamond glimmer. Marcus pulled back, forcing his cold skin away from her. "You're turning." He lowered his head letting his hair fall foreword.

Leo stopped, free herself from the fog of arousal. A ray of sun light touched her shoulder, touched the bite mark to see the same glimmer; diamond skin. She backed away from him trying to make all of this fit in her mind. What would she be if she wasn't a flawed, smart mouthed, bar tending transgenic soldier on the run? "I can't… this isn't…"

Marcus straightened, returned to the ice that had protected him for so long. "I must spirit you out of Volterra with all haste." He said, already making plans to get out of the city. "In America, there is a town called Forks, a coven I have had dealings with there will hide you."

Fire flew through her veins, "I hide from no one!" She raged at him.

Marcus moved against her, took her in his arms, "You have no idea what Aro will do to you. Either he will use you or kill you." He had to make her understand as best he could.

"I would fight before ever being used again." Leo seethed pushing out of Marcus' hold, but he didn't let her get far. His arms were around her, pulling her back. He was holding her. "One thing you'll get annoyed with; I'm stubborn and angry."

"You could never annoy me." Marcus responded. "Now we must hurry."

**AMERICA:**

**WASHINGTON STATE**

**FORKS**

Leo looked around, her gaze piercing the veil of fog that had descended through the forest. The trees, the sounds, all of it made her think of her childhood at Manticore, the time spent hunting people down like animals. Her hand threw to her throat, nails scratching at the skin because she was thirsty. Marcus was right, she was turning, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Though, she could look on the bright side. She would be stronger than normal to keep Lydecker and his merry little band of cutthroats from capturing her and bringing her back to her personal hell. She had to keep moving, keep finding her way to the house nestled in the center of the forest. It was where Marcus said she would find a coven of vampires that would help conceal her. At least that was her hope. She also had the hope that Marcus was going to join her in a few more days like he had promised, but then again, Leo was skeptical of anyone who made promises.

Leo set off again moving as if she belonged to the forest and wasn't merely an intruder. She was carefully not to leave more of a trail than she had to. It was a habit hard to break from many torturous years spent at the hands of men who would have loved nothing more than to beat her senseless should she fail. She took another few steps and then stopped, straining her already heightened hearing to try and pick out what had triggered a red alert inside of her. Something was out there, watching her, tracking her every movement. Maybe it was the Cullens. Maybe it was something else. Leo's left hand went to her thigh, a 9mm baretta was holstered there. Unlike her sister Max, she had no moral qualms about using a weapon. "I know you're out there!" She shouted sounding like a paranoid person. "If you're the Cullens, please I was sent here." This time she put a little desperation in her voice, because at this moment she was desperate. She hated being on foot. She wanted her motorcycle. Leo was running out of steam to keep going. Before too long exhaustion would force her to pass out. When that happened she would be vulnerable.

"Who sent you?!"

Leo pulled her gun and whirled around in the direction of the voice that held a distinctive Texan twang. She aimed, pulled the hammer back, but answered, "Marcus of the Volturi sent me! He said you could… conceal… me!" Leo felt strange about using that word, but it was better than pleading for them to hide her. She hated that word. Trying very hard to keep her arm steady, Leo made a grand show of appearing strong, of showing no weakness.

"Why would Marcus send you to us?"

Leo turned, quickly, but a cold, strong hand, stopped the gun from being aimed at his head. The standing before her was tall, had blond hair slicked back from his face. He would well-fitting clothes, a sweater, and finely made shoes. All out of place for someone who lived in a forest. "Are you Carlisle Cullen?" Leo asked dropping her gun, replacing it in her holster. "Help me…" Suddenly, she was so tired, she could hardly stand. Four days of travel, of running, had finally taken their toll on her. The last thing Leo remembered was she was falling forward.

Carlisle caught the young girl as she fell forward just as Esme, Bella, and Jasper came out of the trees. He wasn't going to leave the young woman out in the middle of the forest, leave her where the werewolves could find her. Holding her securely, he stripped her oversized pack, handing it to his son Jasper. "Try and find some identification." He said to Jasper and then crouched down where he leaned the girl so her abdomen was over his shoulder.

Jasper dug through the pockets where he found a passport. It was forged. "This won't do any good. It's fake." He said handing the document to Esme. "We'll have to wait for her to wake up." Against his better judgment, he drew in a deep breath, drew in her scent. Something struck him as odd. "She smells different, unlike anything we've ever seen before." Jasper commented.

"Carlisle, are we taking her into our home?" Esme asked of her husband. The mother in her urged for them to do just that. This young girl was skin and bones, she had been exposed to the cold, and Esme could tell the girl would become ravenously hungry when she woke.

"Is this a good idea?" Bella spoke up. "She came from the Volturi," She pointed out. "I'm not too eager to get mixed up with them again."

Carlisle understood the feelings Bella held towards the Volturi, at one time they had been the same he held until age had tempered his fear. "Marcus sent her for a reason Bella, we must hear what it is." He adjusted the young woman on his shoulders and then set off in the direction of the house.


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: Marcus is out in the night and he catches a scent leading him to a woman not entirely human. Xover fic for Twilight and Dark Angel

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the characters… not a thing….

Rating: T+

Pairing: Marcus/Leo

**PERFECTION:**

Later, much later, Leo felt herself waking up in warmth, in comfort. For a moment she thought the last four days to be a dream, that she would be back in Volterra in the large antique bed belonging to Marcus. Opening her eyes she saw that wasn't the case. She was stretched out on a couch, deep and comfortable; a thick blanket had been tucked around her and up to her chin carefully to keep her warm. Leo tried to sit up, tried to regain equal footing should she need to flee, or to fight. Then someone was right beside her.

"Stay down, you should be resting." Esme soothed when she had seen the young woman start to move. She sat own, placing her hand lightly on the girl's shoulder to keep her from rising. "You've been asleep for hours." Esme said gently. "When was the last time you ate, or had something to drink?"

Leo was trying to shake free the cobwebs in her mind and trying not to be drawn in by the strange woman's kindness. Being treated with gentleness make Leo's inside's squirm in discomfort. She wasn't used to it. It made her suspicious of everything around her, but she was hungry and she was thirsty. "I don't remember," Leo answered even as her throat felt like sandpaper while she spoke.

"Ok, just rest, and I'll be right back with something for you." Esme patted her shoulder and smiled. She got up going into the kitchen where Bella and Alice were putting a tray together.

"Who is she?" Bella asked in a whisper.

"I don't know yet." Esme answered. "We have to gain her trust first. She's apprehensive of her surroundings right now. I don't think she knows how to react to kindness."

"Kinda like you and surprises, huh Bella?" Alice teased nudging her sister in the side.

"I still hate them," Bella laughed lightly then sobered turning back to Esme, "What about her?"

"We feed her." Esme smiled taking the tray to head back into the main living area. The girl as still on the couch, her eyes half open, but he moment the scent of food reached her, she perked up with visible strength returned to her.

Leo sat up, her stomach growling with hunger. She flexed her right shoulder, her hand rubbing over where Marcus had bitten her. If there was one thing she was guilty of most, it was not taking care of herself. She was a transgenic soldier, she needed more food than an average human, and yet she shied away from all forms of dining establishments or the very same reason. She ate way too much. The kind woman set the tray down in front of her and before Leo was so overcome with hunger she said, "My name's Leo." Then she began to eat.

Esma smiled, moved to sit on the arm of the couch, and replied in kind. "I'm Esme Cullen. It's nice to meet you." She watched as Leo devoured the food in front of her. It always amazed her how much young people could pack away when they were hungry, and yet this young woman looked as if she had been starved nearly to death. She didn't have to turn when she heard Alice and Bella come into the room. Then Carlisle was behind her. It had been a long time since a human had graced their home and this human was certainly interesting.

"At least she has a good appetite," Carlisle commented with a chuckle seeing their young guest finish nearly half the tray off food in a few minutes. Then she took a moment to breathe, to take a drink, before she went back to eating. In another few minutes the tray was empty; not even crumbs remained. "Did you even taste it?" He joked.

Leo didn't realize she had even eaten that fast until the head Cullen made the remark. She stopped chewing and swallowed. "I was just so hungry." Leo drained the rest of the water from her glass before setting it on the tray. She pushed the comfortable blanket aside and made a move to get up, but a new face was standing before her on the other side of the coffee table. The girl looked like a pixie in human form. "You're all vampires?" she asked even though the evidence was before her.

"She's cute." Alice chuckled taking the tray to return it to the kitchen.

Leo needed to move, to pace, to get her bearings. Getting up from the couch she went to the large floor to ceiling window. With her back to the rest of the room, Leo said, "Thank you for bringing me here." She felt strange being here with a house full of vampires, but it wasn't like it had been with the Volturi. They watched her like she was a piece of meat while the Cullen's watched her out of curiosity. Absentmindedly her hand went to the back of her neck, the nail of her index finger tracing the barcode bred into her DNA.

Bella was the one to move first, she knew what this world must feel like to a human. She had been human once. "It must seem strange." Bella commented looking through the window, mirroring the way Leo was standing. She could still remember what it was like the first time she had come to this house, the first time she had seen Esme and the rest of them all together as a family.

"It's not that," Leo commented studying the pale image of the young girl next to her. "I've led a less than normal life, but I never thought that it would lead me back here." She was never one for keeping secrets, or keeping her mouth shut. It was the one failing she knew she had, the one failing manticore failed to beat out of her. She kept this flaw out of defiance of them. "I'm not entirely human."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked looking over her shoulder at Carlisle. He nodded to her to keep talking to her, to keep her talking. At the same time she was drawing in the scent of Leo, picking it apart like she had been taught by Jacob. There were traces of animal running through her, human, and even the scent of a vampire.

"Not far from here, at least by our standards, there's a military base where we, my brothers and sisters, were created." Leo said. If she was going to remain here at the behest of Marcus, then she had to tell these people what she was. Zack would kill her, disown her, and then kill her again. She moved aside her long hair, exposing the barcode set into her perfectly tan flesh. "They call us transgenics, super-soldiers, X-5's. Bred with superior strength, speed, and with the perfect amount of animal DNA we were the army of the future." She let her hair fall back into place as she continued to talk. "Ten years ago there was an escape. Children with the full knowledge of military tactics, with weapons training, bred to be vicious and to kill without mercy, we fought our way to freedom." Tears filled her eyes but her voice never wavered. She was betraying her family with every word that tumbled from her mouth.

When no one asked her questions, Leo continued on, "For years I've been on the run, on my own, always looking over my shoulder. I've been waiting for that day when I know soldiers will find me and take me back to the hell I survived as a child." Leaning forward she rested her warm brow on the cold glass taking deep breaths, holding them for moments at a time, and then letting them go so she could see her breath on the glass. "I managed to make it to Europe, to some remote town that looked like it was never touched by the Pulse that we had here in America." With a light laugh to her voice, "I had a job I liked, people were nice, and then it all came crashing down. Soldiers found me at the same time he crossed my path."

"Marcus?" Carlisle asked from his place behind Esme. Leo's reflection looked at him and nodded. "He doesn't normally go out among humans." He commented drawing on his old knowledge of the apathetic brother.

Leo smiled, "He did that night. I was lucky it was Marcus who crossed my path. He saved me," She turned from the glass, turned back to the vampires watching her to see a few more faces. That didn't stop her from continuing on. "A few weeks slipped by after that night. I tried to vanish, to make arrangements to leave Volterra, but he found me again offering me safe haven within the Volturi."

"What'd you think of them?" Bella asked.

"Aro is intense, Caius seemed callous and paranoid," Leo answered without hesitation. "And that blonde, Jane, I think, she is a little on the psychotic side." She shrugged trying to banish the shiver that slithered up her spine at the memory of meeting Jane. "She looked at me like she could kill me with her brain or something."

"She does that." Bella replied with a smile. "Wait, did her power not work on you?" She asked knowing that her gift as a shield protected her from the painful glare of Jane.

"No," Leo arched her right brow. "Was something supposed to happen?" She asked turning to look at the others in the room. There was a collective wave of tension running through them all.

"Debilitating pain is Jane's specialty." Carlisle answered.

"Lovely." Leo quipped clearing her throat. "It fits for her." Around the room there were small chuckles of laughter. Looking out at the serene forest, she placed her left hand on her right shoulder rubbing at the bite mark again. The small sleeve of her short black shirt rode up, her finger tips touching the cold healed over scars of the former wound. Before too long she knew the coldness would encompass her entire body. She would be just like Marcus, like the Cullens.

Carlisle was up and to Leo's side. She jumped when she realized he was there, but didn't move away from him. "Did Marcus do this to you?" The Doctor in him, the healer he had been for countless years took him over. She nodded as he inspected the healed wound. Her skin burned the tips of his fingers like he had not felt in years. "You're impossibly warm." Carlisle said in awe.

"I have a body temp of 101.8." Leo answered. "Something about the genetic modifications just makes me run hotter than humans. My body is fighting the venom, though, I can tell I will lose in the end." She moved the rest of the sleeve up, exposing the rest of her shoulder, "My skin is so cold here."

"Venom is all encompassing." Carlisle sighed for Leo's benefit. "You will turn, but I don't know much about transgenics to estimate how much time you have left as a human."

"That's ok, I was never human to start with." Leo shrugged turning back to the scenery spread out before her. In her reflection she tried to see if she had changed at all, but she couldn't see anything. Then, in a low voice, Leo asked, "He's not coming is he?"

Carlisle touched her shoulder in a fatherly gesture that he had learned from his children. "I don't know." He replied just as gently. "The letter he sent was vague at best." Carlisle took a pause and then added, "You are more than welcome to remain here with us."

"Thank you, but I just want Marcus." Leo said smiling at Carlisle's reflection in the glass. The gentle man smiled giving her a knowing glance. "Is there a phone I could borrow?" She asked knowing she would have to let Zak know where she was. He would hate it. He would yell at her and she would only roll her eyes at him over the phone. "I have to call my brother."

Carlisle produced a cell phone for her. "Here, it's an untraceable phone." He said when she took it. Backing away, Carlisle motioned for his wife, for his children to leave the room, but Leo just shook her head. So, he went to sit next to Esme. "Are you sure you want us to remain while you talk to your brother?" He asked.

"It's fine. Zack's going to yell at me anyway." Leo shrugged as she dialed. Bringing the phone to her ear, she looked out once more towards the sprawling forest vista beyond the glass. The line seemed to ring forever and then there was a beep. Zack never set up a voicemail. "Hey, Zack, it's me. I know I was supposed to stay put, but I couldn't knowing what you were doing. I want to help." Leo disconnected the call then. Turning from the window, she handed the phone back to Carlisle. "Thanks."

"You're most welcome." Carlisle accepted the phone. "I thought you'd try to contact Marcus." He mused.

"I thought about it, but it would be more trouble than it's worth." Leo left the room then, slipped through the sliding glass door, and walked down the steps to vanish into the forest.

**ITALY:**

Marcus paced the confines of his room. Two weeks. It had been two weeks since he'd last set eyes upon Leo before he spirited her out of the city. Since meeting her, the carefully constructed mask he'd worn through the centuries was starting to crack. He hungered for her in a way he longed thought taken from him. She was all he thought about. Marcus had to get out of Volterra. He had to return to her side. If he made it to the tunnels unseen then he could be out of the city when night fell, well on his way to America. Before he made up his mind, his body was taking him towards the door. Opening it Marcus saw the guards were not at their posts. No doubt running some errand at Aro's behest.

Slipping into the silent corridor, Marcus moved carefully and cautiously through the halls, down the stairs, and stole himself through a crevice that would lead him to a tunnel below their home. Dropping down to the stone floor below he plastered himself up against eh curved wall to listen for any other signs of life. Nothing reached him and it seemed this his path to freedom was unobstructed. Marcus just hoped his good fortune held until he made it to the private air field the Volturi had acquired years ago. Once he was there, he was going to have to use his powers of persuasion. Human minds were so weak sometimes. Just one good push of his mental will and their minds belonged to him. Marcus hated to use his power. Aro had yet to discover it and Marcus wanted to keep it that way.

Marcus kept his stride even, carrying him to the mouth of the tunnel. It was there that he could see night had fallen, the stars were out, and everything was quiet. That made him take pause. Expanding his senses he reached out with his mind to see if any other human or vampire was lying in wait for him. He felt nothing, but was leery all the same. Keeping to the shadows, Marcus watched the surrounding area. Quickly and quietly he covered a great distance with much speed until he saw the fence of the air field. Coming to a stop under a tree, concealing himself in the shadows, Marcus once more looked out into the night, letting his considerable metal abilities feel for the weak will of a human or the unsuspecting vampire. Again he found nothing. Sometimes the silence was just silence. Marcus had a single moment where he thought to turn back, to return to Volterra, but it vanished when his mind conjured Leo's face, her brought smile, and her devilish eyes. It was then he knew he couldn't stay, not without her at his side.

Coming out of the shadow of the tree, Marcus made his way towards the entrance gate of the airfield. If he was superstitious, believed in luck, he would have been hoping not to get caught. Marcus reached the gate, opened it, and slipped inside wishing he could breathe a sigh of relief. Checking the immediate area again, he continued on his journey towards the middle hanger where chunks of light illuminated the night. His luck was certainly holding fast. Just a little while longer, that's all he needed. Picking up the pace, Marcus entered the metal hanger and wasted no time in finding the pilot. Quickly he shot his hand out touching the man's skin where he forced his will power upon the human. It was easier than he remembered forcing a human to do his bidding. Moments later he was inside a human creation and the engine was rumbling to life.

**NIGHTFALL:**

**FORKS, WASHINGTON STATE**

Leo hadn't realized that so much time had slipped by until the sun had vanished from the heavens. She was up a large tree, her legs stretched out on the branch that supported her with great ease. It was peaceful, more so than she'd ever felt before. There was a reluctance in her to leave this perch, to leave the scene spread out before her. She turned, dangled her legs over the edge of the large tree branch, and dropped down to the next one. Without fear she dropped down and down from branch to branch until she jumped to the ground to breath in deeply. Tilting her head back, she sighed as she looked up at her abandoned perch. "Where are you Marcus?" Her voice was carried along on the wind. She didn't really expect an answer. And then she turned around. Her heart stopped in her chest.

Marcus had burned every last bit of energy he had to get from the field where he'd forced the pilot to land so he could follow Leo's fading scent. He had to get to her, to see her, to hear her heart beating. Now he knew why a vampire would risk all for a human, for spark of life they held inside of them. He's needed to see her smile. "I'm right here." To his own ears, he didn't sound as he had for countless centuries. His voice sounded happy mixed with relief. "And if you'll permit me, I'll never be far from your side again." She gave no reply, rushed to him, and threw her arms around him. Marcus picked her up and held her so tightly against him that he thought they'd become one being. "Oh, how I've missed you." He whispered kissing the side of her neck as gently as he could.

"I've missed you too." Leo said quickly tightening her hold on him knowing that no matter the strength she used on him, she couldn't cause him pain. "I thought you weren't coming." She babbled locking her legs around his waist. There was no letting him go now. He had left the safety of his city, probably betrayed his brothers just to be here with her. That alone meant the world to her.


End file.
